Amplicon Sequencing Services
We help you precisely and accurately to identify the microbial composition of your sample. 
Using amplicon sequencing with ITS or 16s we can detect and classify the bacteria and fungi in samples like: Agriculture samples: plant, root, soil/dirt, water/aqua, bioreactor. Life science samples: gut, blood, spit, skin, fecal/stool/feces, biopsies. 
Targeted sequencing of a phylogenetic marker gene allows us to profile the taxonomic composition of a specific microbial kingdom, such as bacteria or fungi. In our amplicon sequencing services, we profile the bacterial microbiome by sequencing the 16S rRNA gene, and we profile the fungi microbiome by sequencing the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) sequence (the mycobiome).
Amplicon sequencing is a cost-effective approach for profiling a specific part of the microbiome and can be used for most any sample – including soil, water, skin, and stool – to detect the different species found in the sample. In situations where there are expected to be relatively few microorganisms in the samples, amplicon sequencing has an advantage over shotgun sequencing as it targets the organism of interest and therefore does not use a lot of reagent to sequence other types of DNA in the sample.
Please see below for some more information about the 16S rRNA gene and the ITS sequence. These are the two marker regions most often purchased via our amplicon sequencing service.
- Allow specific profiling of the bacterial or fungal microbiome
- It is cheaper than shotgun sequencing although the cost difference continues to reduce, and mostly depends on the desired sequencing depth and the sample type.
- The data is easier to process and analyze, and data storage is fewer challenges due to small amounts of data.
- It has some advantages over shotgun sequencing for samples with low microbiome concentration.
- Support with study design and guidance on sample collection and shipment.
- DNA extraction*
- Library preparation and amplicon sequencing on an Illumina platform
- If you purchase our biostatistical service, we also perform
- Data quality evaluation and quality filtering to prepare the data for microbiome profiling
- Microbiome profiling – calculation of the abundance of specific organisms (including absolute bacterial abundances if spike-in solutions are used*)
- Statistical analysis